Lostintranslation bids to rule in King George

RACING: Colin Tizzard’s brilliant chaser can stay on track for £1m bonus

LOSTINTRANSLATION can come through his sternest test to date, and stay on track for a £1 million bonus this season, by winning the Ladbrokes King George VI Chase at Kempton today.

Colin Tizzard’s brilliant chaser has chalked up two convincing successes to kick-start his first campaign outside novice company, and last month’s victory in Haydock’s Betfair Chase means he has a shot at the bonus if he can win again on Boxing Day and then in the Magners Cheltenham Gold Cup too.

Lostintranslation is arguably more likely to prevail in the latter, given his running style in a ready graduation for the step up to beyond three miles at Haydock, but also because he may well not have to face CYRNAME over the extra distance at Cheltenham either.

Paul Nicholls’ Grade One winner, a seven-year-old like Lostintranslation, has been a revelation on his last three starts – all at Ascot – which first propelled him to the top of the ratings and then cemented that position when he got the better of his duel with Altior last month.

Cyrname ought to be no less effective at Kempton than Ascot, but the snag for him is that his remarkable improvement has come at the small matter of three furlongs shorter than the three miles he will face here.

There are nagging doubts too for Lostintranslation, but his near seamless progression indicates he should silence them.

In Altior’s absence, Nicholls’ great rival Nicky Henderson is conspicuously unrepresented in the Boxing Day showpiece, but he is anything but that in the Ladbrokes Christmas Hurdle – which he is bidding to win for the ninth time this century.

Of Henderson’s three hopes this time, FUSIL RAFFLES presents a compelling case.

The four-year-old did not please everyone with the manner of his hardfought victory on seasonal return in the Grade Two Elite Hurdle at Wincanton early last month.

But Henderson was unperturbed, making clear then and since that the three-quarter-length success from Nicholls’ Grand Sancy was a mere starting point for what he hopes will be a championship campaign.